Missing six-year-old girl found dead in UP’s Loni, cops await autopsy report

According to the girl’s family, she returned home after attending tuition classes nearby around 7.30pm on Monday. She then left home again, saying she would be back soon. They searched until early Tuesday, but found no trace of her.

A six-year-old girl, who went missing on Monday evening, was found dead close to a mosque in Loni early Tuesday morning. The police said they were awaiting a written complaint and the autopsy report to file an FIR under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The police said they are investigating the incident from all angles, including questioning the girl’s tuition teacher, who is a Class 12 student and lives two houses away. (AFP File)

According to the girl’s family, she returned home after attending tuition classes nearby around 7.30pm on Monday. She then left home again, saying she would be back soon. They searched until early Tuesday, but found no trace of her.

“She returned from tuition classes and told us that ‘bhaiya’ (a term of respect for an older brother or man) was calling her and she would be back soon. However, she did not return. W searched until 3am but did not find her. We then called up the police emergency number but they did not arrive,” the girl’s grandfather, said.

The girl’s father said he was the first person to spot her body.

“I found her body on a pile of sand outside the mosque. I had gone to the mosque to pray early in the morning. This year, I could not admit her to a school. However, she had finished her kindergarten and so we sent her for tuition classes. We suspect no one. The police should investigate,” he added.

“On Tuesday, the police sent the body for an autopsy. We could not find any injury marks on her body. However, the scarf she was wearing was tied around her throat, so she could have been strangled,” he said, adding, “We have no rivalry with anyone and cannot name anyone behind the incident.”

The police said they are investigating the incident from all angles, including questioning the girl’s tuition teacher, who is a Class 12 student and lives two houses away.

The police said that despite Monday night’s rain, the girl’s clothes were not wet when her body was discovered by her father. They added that her family is yet to lodge a formal complaint—they only provided information of her going missing and the subsequent discovery of her body.

“Based on the family’s information, we have sent the body for an autopsy, and when they lodge a complaint, it will be converted to an FIR,” Upendra Kumar Agrawal, senior superintendent of police (SSP), said.

“The case will be solved very soon,” the SSP added.

The girl was the oldest of three siblings, she had two brothers.